Republic’s hopes for a conference soccer title were alive and well after forty minutes of play at Ozark Tuesday. But less than a minute into the second half, things started to change, leading to a 3-1 Ozark win.
The two teams battled to a 1-1 tie at halftime, in a first half that showed exactly what Republic coach Kevin Hauck was looking for.
“The first half, we had a lot more intensity. We had a lot of energy. We were all over the field,” Hauck says. “I thought we did a really nice job of pressuring them, and I thought that was the key to the game for us.”
But Hauck says Republic’s slow start in the second half, leading to the quick Ozark goal, turned out to be their demise.
“We knew we needed to communicate and do a better job of marking their runners, and we just lost track of that,” he says.
Ozark added a second goal in the 54th minute to take control, and Republic had few scoring opportunities from there.
The loss ends Republic’s hopes for a share of the conference championship. He says they’ll turn their attention to districts.
“We have three matches left, but within those three matches, we’re going to be focused on getting ready for the first district game,” he says. That’s our goal, to make sure we’re ready for districts and that we get a district title.”
